World War I
World War I (also known as the First World War or The Great War prior to World War II) was a global armed conflict which lasted from July 28, 1914-November 11, 1918. The two sides were known as the Triple Entente which was later known as the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The Allies consisted of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. Build Up Throughout the late 1800's and early 1900's there was a rise in Nationalist behavior from different nations across the world and powerful nations mainly England and Germany began competing for the largest and most advanced military, with new inventions coming out frequently. During this time there was also conflicts in the Balkin Region of Eastern Europe. Throughout the 1910's there had been issues of the Ottoman Empire losing its territory in the Balkins, with Romainia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro gaining their independence from the Turks with assistance from Russia. Eventually these issues would lead to the First Balkan War from 1912-1913, with Greece and these new nations rallying against the Ottomans to seize Thrace, Rumelia, and Macedonia. Following their war with Italy over Libya, Bulgaria became unsatisfied with the result of the "Balkan League" which had seized large amounts of land, giving them unsatisfactory land. This would cause Bulgaria to fight against their former allies in the Second Balkan War in 1913, only to face defeat. Tensions would continue rising as the nations competed for territory. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand In 1907 Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed by Austria-Hungary from the Ottoman Empire which angered the majority Muslim population of the region, as well as several Serbians living in the area. The Black Hand, a Serbian secret society that was supported by the Serbians conducted a campaign of terrorism across the country against the Austrians in Bosnia with an end goal of an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. On July 28, 1914 while parading through the Bosnian town of Serajavo, Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophia of Hohenburg were shot and killed by a member of the Black Hand named Gavrilo Princip. Following this, Austria-Hungary demanded that Serbia support nationalist movements in the country, when Serbia did not respond to these demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The War Austria-Hungary was a close ally with the German Empire who quickly came to assist its ally in the fight against Serbia who was allied to Russia who was the self proclaimed defender of Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans and a member of the Triple Entente. Soon after, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia along with France, another ally of Russia and member of the Entente. The alliance systems in Europe finally met in a war, with Germany having to face enemies on two fronts and with this, the Germans decided to enact the "Schlieffen Plan", a maneuver that would see German soldiers avoid the French borders and invade through Belgium, a neutral territory to the north of France. Russia took a long time to mobilize its armies, creating a feeling of ease in the first few weeks of the war for Germany. The Schlieffen Plan On August 2, 1914, the Germans requested military access to Luxembourg and on that same day they peacefully occupied the country who's small army was no match for the Germans. Belgium since it was a neutral territory in the war decided to not take sides during the conflict and the United Kingdom expressed its support for Belgian neutrality. On August 4, 1914, German forces under the command of Karl von Bulow and Alexander von Kluck invaded Belgium, facing the 220,000 strong Belgian Army and the 247,000 strong British Expeditionary Force under general John French. After several days of fighting, Brussels fell to the German forces. causing a retreat of the Belgian and British forces. This would lead to Britains entry into the conflict. German Invasion of France Following the battles in Belgium, German forces advanced deep into Northern France but failed to beat the British and French forces to the English Channel which allowed the French and British to set up defensive lines. At the First Battle of the Marne in September of 1914, the French and British were able to set up a defense not far from Paris, the French capital, which halted the German advance, resulting in the war turning into a series of trench battles. War with Russia on August 17, 1914, the 800,000 strong Russian Army launched an assault on the German providence of East Prussia, facing a 250,000 strong German force under Paul von Hindenburg. The Russians would eventually be dealt a fatal blow with 170,000 soldiers being killed, wounded, or captured in the Battle of Tannenburg and Russian general Alexander Samsonov committed suicide shortly after the defeat of his army. The Russians would eventually be defeated in the Masurian Lakes which would make Hindenburg and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff national heros. The Russians would do better in Eastern Galicia against Austro-Hungarian forces which would ultimately result in a stalemate. The Western Front As 1914 came to an end, the Germans were engaging in fights with the French and British in Northern France. The armies dug trenches and set up defenses from 1915-1917 where they would engage in in Trench warfare and massive offenses, including the Battle of the Somme, Battle of Verdun and the Third Battle Ypres. In 1917, Mustard Gas was first used by both sides as a chemical weapon. These battles would continue until 1918 when the war ended. Middle East troops during the Battle of Gallipoli]] when the Ottoman Empire joined the war in October of 1914 they did not play a huge part in the war that year, mainly fighting with the British forces on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, with much fighting in the desert. The French and British made a plan to eliminate the Turks from the war with one large offensive and a large scale invasion. With Naval assistance, troops pushed forward towards the enemy line but was eventually forced to retreat after meeting heavy resistance. The largest and most significant invasion took place on April 25, 1915 when ANZAC troops from New Zealand and Australia landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, assisting France, Britain, and several other nations, they became pinned down for several months. After months of fighting, the Allies would end up retreating and the Turkish general, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk becoming a war hero, ending the allied hopes for a quick war. Later on, British leaders shifted their focus to the unhappy Arab population of the Levant and Mesopotamia who had long been struggling for an independent nation. In 1916, the British sent T.E Lawrence to advise the Arabs of Hejaz to rise up against the Ottoman Empire in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant which began the Arab Revolt of 1916. Over a few years the Arabs, with the assistance of British armored cars, would drive the Turks out of Arabia and into the Lavant, and would eventually end the war in Damascus in 1918. Despite this, the invasions of Mesopotamia and Kut would fail, though the Arabs would capture the Levant before the Ottoman surrender in October of 1918. Southern Europe In 1915, the Kingdom of Italy decided to enter the war on the side of Triple Entente, seeking to acquire territory in Austria. This violated the "Triple Alliance" and Austria-Hungary was unprepared to fight on another front. The Royal Italian Army launched several attacks along the Isonzo River, with 11 battles taking place. In 1917, German forces arrived in Italy to assist the failing Austro-Hungarian forces and destroyed the Italian forces at Caporetto. This caused British and French (and later American) troops joining in the fight in Southern Europe against the Central Powers. In the Balkans, the war reduced into a stalemate, the Serbians defended against the Austrians until Bulgaria and Germany sent troops to assist the Austrians in the conquest of Serbia in 1916. This led to the southern flank of Austria-Hungary being secured, but Romania joined the Entente owers later in 1916, hoping to gain Transylvania and other regions from Austria-Hungary. Germany quickly invaded Romania, eliminating another country. However, Greece's declaration of war on the Central Powers had allowed French forces to be deployed to Macedonia and assist the Greeks, the fighting would last until 1918. End of the Eastern Front The Austro-Hungarian Army who had done poorly in the war soon subordinated to the Imperial German Army's high command. General Hindenburg took command of the forces on the Eastern Front and led the German Army to destroy the Russians in the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive in 1916. That year, Russian general Aleksei Brusilov decided a massive counterattack in Poland which inflicted many loses in the Central forces, with the Central powers losing over 1,000,000 troops and Brusilov was hailed as a hero. During this time the citizens of Russia were becoming more aware of Zsar Nicholas II's political corruption (including the influence of Grigory Rasputin). This would lead to the Russian Revolution, effectively taking Russia out of the war as the government collapsed. The Germans took this to their advantage and seized large amounts of territory in Russia. In March of 1918, the newly formed, Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany which ended the war in Eastern Europe. End of the Western Front Germany's success with the Russians boosted morale within the Central Powers, but the Germans were faced with a larger problem, America. Over the course of the war, Germany had been engaging in "unrestricted submarine warfare" and sinking enemy ships, several of these turned out to be civilian ships. Following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, U.S president Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germay in 1916 and the United States joined the Allies in 1917. Later that year, American troops began arriving in France under John C. Pershing who would not let his men serve under British and French generals. In 1918, American forces took part in battles at Belleau Wood in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Germans began suffering more and more as the allied forces swarmed their lines and many Germans began to mutiny. In early November of 1918 the "November Revolution" began and the German government began to fail and the Germans agreed to an armistice with the allied forces, ending the war on November 11, 1918. Category:Wars